Dryer with open end drum



Nov. 12, 1968 c. A. COBB ET AL 3,409,997

DRYER WITH OPEN END DRUM Filed Jan. 13, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 R N Q\ 1 v m r R 0 G3 N .r\ 3' 0 I 1 \w (\l 1 x INVENTOR'.

Q/FTO/V 4 C055 @0200 4/ k eozz/ck a, 4 ATTORNEYS BY W KW Nov. 12, 1968 c. A. COBB ET AL I 3,409,997

DRYER WITH OPEN END DRUM Filed Jan. 13, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 L\"VE.\'TOR. Ck/x'ra/l/ 4. C055 @0200 4/ A eazz/cu BY ATTORNEYS NOV. 12, 1968 c, COBB ET AL 3,409,997

DRYER WITH OPEN END DRUM Filed Jan. 13, 1965 v 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 EIE- 6 I 515. 7

INVENTOR. Curran/ 4 C055 @0900 4/ keozz/cx By W M @14 pwrw ATTORNEYS Nov. 12, 1968 c COBB ET Al. 3,409,997

DRYER WITH OPEN END DRUM I Filed Jan. 13, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. (Ia/Fro 4. C055 GbAwO/V A4eazz/cw BYW g 4 ATTORNEYS I I l 4 United States Patent 3,409,997 DRYER WITH OPEN END DRUM Clifton A. Cobb, St. Joseph, and Gordon J. Krolzick,

Benton Harbor, Mich., assignors to Whirlpool Corporation, Benton Harbor, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Filed Jan. 13, 1965, Ser. No. 425,302 9 Claims. (CI. 34-133) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A clothes dryer having a drum for tumbling clothes, the drum being open at one end confronting a wall of the dryer. Openings in the wall permit passage of air into and out of the drum during tumbling.

Heretofore clothes dryers have been constructed with a rotatable drum including a cylindrical peripheral wall and a pair of end walls closing the drum. Generally, one of the end walls of the drum is provided with an access opening for loading and unloading purposes and the other end wall is perforated to enable warm air supplied through a warm air system in an adjacent bulkhead to be circulated through the drum.

Such prior construction is relatively expensive in manufacture due to the costs involved in the fabrication of the end walls of the drum as well as the assembly thereof on the peripheral wall.

The present invention is effective in reducing such expense by eliminating one or both of the drum end walls while maintaining high dryer efficiency. In addition, a warm air system is provided wherein warm air is supplied directly through a stationary bulkhead confronting the interior of the drum with which the drum is associated in sealed relation, thus improving circulation of the air.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a clothes dryer having a high capacity and drying efliciency which comprises simplified parts economical to manufacture and reliable in operation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide, in a dryer incorporating a rotatable drum for receiving fabrics and a warm air system for supplying warm air into the drum to dry the fabrics, means for improving the circulation of the warm air through the drum to reduce the time required for drying the fabrics.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel seal arrangement between a rotatable drum having an open end and a stationary bulkhead confronting the open end of the drum in order to close off and to seal the open end.

Many other features, advantages and additional objects of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description which followsand the accompanying sheets of drawings, in which preferred structural embodiments incorporating the principles of the present invention are shown by way of illustrative example only.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of an exemplary embodiment of a clothes dryer incorporating the principles of the present invention;

FIGURE 2is a side elevational view of the clothes dryer of FIGURE 1 with a portion of a side panel thereof cut away to show the relative disposition of parts;

FIGURE 3 is a rear elevational view of the dryer of FIGURE 1 with portions of the rear panel thereof removed;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view of the front portion of the dryer taken substantially along lines IVIV of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantially along lines VV of FIGURE 4 and illustrative of the interrelation between parts of the front panel of the dryer and the dryer drum for rotatably aligning and guiding the front of the drum;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view of a screen member covering an air opening formed in a stationary bulkhead of the dryer;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view with parts in elevation showing a sealing member of the invention interconnecting the rotatable drum and the stationary bulkhead and also showing roller and groove means for rotatably supporting the drum;

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary vertical elevational view partially in section of a front portion of the dryer similar to FIGURE 4 but showing an alternate arrangement wherein the front end of the drum is open and confronts a stationary bulkhead; and

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of a dryer drum having two open ends both of which confront stationary bulkheads with other parts removed for clarity.

As shown in the drawings:

Although the principles of the present invention are of utility in any dryer construction which incorporates a rotatable drum, a particularly useful application is made to dryers for materials such as fabric and the like and an illustrative embodiment herein shown consists of a clothes dryer of the home appliance type having a horizontally disposed rotatable clothes receptacle or drying drum.

Referring to FIGURES 1-3, an exemplary clothes dryer incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown generally at reference numeral 10 and comprises a cabinet 11 having a pair of vertical side panels 12 and 13, vertical front and rear panels 14 and 16 and horizontal top and bottom panels 17 and 18.

In order to load and unload the dryer an access or closure door 19 is swingably mounted by means of hinges 20, 20 in a complementarily shaped recessed portion 21 of the front panel 14 and a handle 22 is mounted on the door 19 to facilitate opening and closing thereof.

Also formed in the front panel 14 is a centrally located access opening 23 to provide for ingress and egress into and out of the interior of the cabinet 11.

Housed within the cabinet 11 to receive the articles of clothing or other fabrics to be dried is a horizontally disposed receptacle or drying drum indicated generally at reference numeral 24 extending lengthwise between the front and rear panels 14 and 16 substantially concentrically with respect to the access opening 23. The drum 24 comprises a peripheral cylindrical side wall 26 having ends as at 15 and 25 and is, in the exemplary embodiment, constituted of imperforate sheet-form material, but it will be appreciated that the peripheral wall 26 could also be made of perforate material.

The drum 24 is mounted within the cabinet 11 for rotation about its axis to provide a tumbling action to the articles of clothing or other fabrics deposited therein in order to completely dry the clothing and to minimize the time required for the drying operation.

In the illustrated embodiment the direction of rotation of the drum 24 is counterclockwise when viewing the drum from the front thereof as shown in FIGURE 1 and in order to rotatably support the drum while precluding axial movement thereof a groove and roller support arrangement is provided which comprises a circumferentially continuous track means or V-shaped groove or depression 28 formed in the peripheral side wall 26 of the drum 24. The groove is disposed adjacent the end of the drum in order to minimize vibration thereof due to possible unbalanced conditions of the load therein.

A plurality of complementarily shaped rotatable wheels or idler rollers are mounted on fixed supports in the cabinet to be received or to ride in the groove 28.

More particularly, a roller 30 is mounted on shaft member 32 for rotation about an axis which extends parallel to the axis of the drum 24. The roller 30 is situated on the ascending side of the drum in order to best balance the loading forces.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGURES 1-3, the shaft member 32 is fixedly mounted on a stationary bulkhead 33 which comprises a generally fiat vertically upstanding sheet-form member situated adjacent the drum 24 in front of the rear panel 16 and extending substantially transversely to the axis of the drum 24.

Another roller as indicated at 34 is positioned in the cabinet to engage the groove 28 in the lower descending quadrant of the drum 24 and is mounted on a shaft member similarly to the roller 30, which shaft member may desirably be fixedly connected to the stationary bulkhead 33 of the cabinet 11.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG- URES 1-3, only the rear end of the drum 24 is open, and the front end of the drum has connected thereto or formed integrally therewith for corotation a radially inwardly extending front closure wall 73.

The center portion of the front drum wall 73 is centrally apertured to provide an opening 74 situated conceutrically with the opening 23 formed in the front panel 14. In order to provide support for the front end of the drum the opening 23 is defined by means of an axially inturned flange or lip 25 which overlies a complemental flange or lip 75 of the wall 73 forming the Opening 74.

Referring to FIGURES 4 and 5, an annularly shaped circumferentially continuous bearing ring 76 is housed in an annular space 77 between lips 25 and 75 and is suitably attached to lip 75. The bearing ring 76 may advantageously be made of material adapted to provide a long wear with reduced friction and in the exemplary embodiment is constituted of plastic material available commercially under the trade name Delrin.

As shown in FIGURE a 'pair of bearing blocks or shoes 78 and 79 are spaced circumferentially in the upper portion of the space 77 and fixedly connected by suitable means to the lip 23. The bearing blocks 78 and 79 are shaped complementarily to the bearing ring 76 for engagement therewith in good bearing relation. If desired, additional support may be obtained at the front end of drum 24 by providing rollers in groove 27 similar to rollers 30 and 34 in groove 28.

In order to rotate the drum 24 a continuous drivin belt 36 is wrapped around the peripheral wall 26 and also around a sheave or pulley 37 driven by a suitable motive source such as an electric motor 38,

1 In accordance with the principles of the invention articles of clothing or fabrics housed within the drum 24 are subjected to a drying action by a drying agent such as warm air circulated through the interior of the drum to remove moisture from the fabrics while the fabrics themselves are subjected to a tumbling action as the drum is rotated.

In order to provide a tumbling action to the fabrics a plurality of circumferentially spaced bafile members 39 are formed on an inner surface 40 of the peripheral side wall 26.

As best seen in FIGURES 1 and 3, a warm air system 41 is housed in the cabinet 11 between the bulkhead 33 and the rear panel 16, and more particularly comprises an air tempering duct or conduit 42 extending substantially vertically and having formed at the lower end thereof an inlet opening 43 in open communication with ambient air outside the cabinet and having formed at the upper end thereof a supply opening 44 which opens through the bulkhead 33 forwardly in the direction of the front panel 14.

Also disposed within the space between the rear panel 16 and the bulkhead 33 on an opposite side of the cabinet is a vertically upstanding air discharge duct or conduit 46 which extends substantially the entire height of the cabi- .4 net 11. A forwardly facing air outlet opening 47 is formed in the conduit 46 substantially intermediate the upper and lower ends thereof and at approximately the same height as the supply opening 44 of the air tempering conduit 42.

In addition, the conduit 46 includes a lower portion 48 which is connected at 49 to the inlet of an air fan or blower 50, which is utilized to circulate the air through the warm air system. The blower 50 may be of any suitable type and in the exemplary embodiment a centrifugal 1mpeller type blower is shown.

As best seen in FIGURE 3 a short branch conduit 51 is connected to the outlet of the blower 50 at one end thereof and at an opposite end thereof to an exhaust opening 52 which opens through the rear panel 16 of the cabinet 11.

In order to heat the circulated air suitable heating means, such as, for example, an electric heater indicated at 53 is mounted in the air tempering conduit 42. It will now be appreciated that the flow of air through the warm air system is from outside the cabinet through the inlet opening 43 of the air tempering conduit 42, through conduit 42 across the heater 53 and then out of the air supply opening 44 ahead of the bulkhead 33 toward the drum 24. The air then leaves the drum area to the back side of the bulkhead 33 through the outlet opening 47 of the conduit 46 and is thereupon conveyed to the blower 50 and out of the cabinet through the exhaust opening 52.

Referring to FIGURE 1, it will be noted that opening 44 of the air tempering conduit 42 and air opening 47 of the air discharge conduit 46 are both disposed in the bull-:- head 33 which confronts the drum 24 within the confines of the peripheral side wall 26 of the drum 24 in full communication with the interior of the drum 24.

The pulley 37 and the blower 50 may both be driven from a double ended shaft 54 of the motor 38.

The interrelation and the relative disposition of the drum 24 and the bulkhead 33 are clearly disclosed in FIGURE 7, which also includes an enlarged view of the groove 28 formed in the peripheral wall 26 of the drum as well as a corresponding roller 30 fixedly connected to the bulkhead 33.

As shown in FIGURE 7, the rear end portion of the drum 24 comprises an axially extending backwardly overlapping portion 58 to which an annular seal member 59 is fixedly secured by any suitable fastener such as a circumferential metal band 65. In cross-section, the seal 59 comprises a pair of axially extending leg portions 60' and 61 which are joined by an inverted somewhat U-shaped loop portion 62 formed immediately adjacent the end of the peripheral wall 26. The U-shaped loop portion 62 is maintained by sewing the seal as at 62a.

The circumferential seal 59 performs a sealing function between the rotatable drum 24 and the stationary confronting bulkhead 33. The seal 59 may be formed of any suitable material susceptible to reducing friction and minimizing wear and in the exemplary embodiment the seal 59 is made of a flexible plastic material available commercially under the trade name Naugahyde.

In order to receive the seal member 59in good sealing relation, the bulkhead 33 has formed thereon an annularly shaped axially inturned embossment 63 which extends circumferentially radially inwardly of the peripheral wall 26 of the drum 24 and more particularly comprises an inclined portion 64 interconnected by means of an arcuate portion 66 to a stepped portion 67, one part of which overlies the inverted U-shaped portion 62 as at 68 and another part of which overlies the leg portion 61 of the seal 59 as at 69.

Thus the seal 59 engages bulk-head 33 at two points, 68 and 69 to provide a double seal. The inclined portion 64 of embossment 63 functions to deflect clothing away from the junction of seal 59 with bulkhead 33 to avoid tearing of clothing due to being caught between the relatively moving parts of the drum and the bulkhead. The U-shaped loop portion '62 of seal 59 functions to provide a positive seal in the event of slight eccentricity between dnum 24 and embossment 63. In this regard the U-shaped loop is capable of deformation if end portion 58 of drum 24 moves toward embossment 63 during rotation of the drum. If the end portion 58 moves away from embossment 63, the -U-shaped loop will regain its undeformed shape due to the flexible character of the material and will therefore retain its sealing relationship with the embossment 63.

It will also be noted in FIGURE 7 that the shaft member 32 which rotatably mounts the roller 30 is securely mounted on an embossment 70 of the bulkhead 33 by means of suitable fastener members as, for example, a pair of threaded nuts 71 and 72.

A perforated guard member 80 is mounted on the bulkhead 33 across the opening 47, thereby enabling the circulated air and lint to pass through the opening 47 while precluding articles of clothing or other fabrics in the drum from tumbling through the opening 47 and into the air discharge conduit 46. A similar member may be utilized to cover the opening 44 of the .air tempering conduit 42, if desired.

Referring again to FIGURE-7, it will be appreciated that the shape of the seal member 59, which in the exemplary embodiment rotates with the drum 24, and the embossment 63 of the bulkhead 33 is such that fabrics tumbling within the drum are prevented from becoming caught between the relatively movable parts.

Referring again to FIGURES 2, 3 and 6, it will be noted that an upper portion 81 of the air discharge conduit 46 is shaped in the form of a dog leg, the upper end of which opens to the top panel 17 of the cabinet 11, which opening may be normally closed by means of a swingable door 82 hingedly mounted in a recess formed in the top panel 17. An elongated lint screen or filter member 83 which is comprised of flexible material is inserted through the door 82 and downwardly into the air discharge conduit 46 to cover the opening 47 formed therein to prevent lint and other such matter from leaving the drum to be circulated through the blower 50 and out the exhaust opening 52.

In the form of the invention shown in FIGURES 8 and 9 a drum open at both ends is shown. Similar parts are designated by similar reference numerals with the sufiix :1 added for convenience in description. A front stationary bulkhead 84 is fixedly secured to the front panel 14a in a suitable manner as by welding. The drum 24a is formed with two open ends, namely, an open front end 15a and an open rear end 25a. In this embodiment of the invention the front of the drum is supported for rotation on a pair of rollers positioned similarly to the rear rollers of the embodiment of FIGURES 1-7. A roller 85 is shown in a groove 27a in FIGURE 8.

In order to provide an air seal between the rotatable drum 24a and the stationary bulkhead 84 an annular seal member 590 shaped similarly to the seal 59 is fastened to the forward end of the peripheral side wall 26a to engage in snug bearing relation a complementarily shaped circumferentially continuous stepped portion 86 of the bulkhead 84.

As a result, both ends of the drum 24a are in open confrontation with their respective bulkheads.

In addition to the savings involved in the fabrication of a receptacle or drum, one or both of the ends thereof which are open, it will be appreciated that the warm air being circulated through the interior of the drum is subjected to reduced resistance in entering and leaving the drum through air openings 44 and 47 than would be the case if the back end of the drum were enclosed with a perforated rotatable back wall. The circulation of the warm air is thereby enhanced, providing greater efiiciencies in operation and also reducing the time required for a drying operation.

Although minor modifications might be suggested by those versed in the art, it should be understood that we wish to embody within the scope of the patent warranted hereon all such modifications as reasonably come within the scope of our contribution to the art.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. In a clothes dryer:

a cabinet,

a drum having a cylindrical peripheral wall and rotatably mounted in said cabinet for receiving fabrics to be dried,

said drum having at least one open end,

a stationary bulkhead in said cabinet confronting the open end of said drum and cooperating therewith to form a closure for said open end, and

an air system for circulating air through said drum to dry fabrics therein,

said system comprising an air inlet opening and an air outlet opening formed in said bulkhead and in open communication with the interior of said drum.

2. The clothes dryer as defined in claim 1 and including a perforated member mounted over at least said air outlet opening to prevent fabrics from entering said air outlet opening.

3. In a clothes dryer:

a cabinet having a front panel with first means forming an access opening therein,

a bulkhead in said cabinet in spaced relation to said front panel,

a drum having a cylindrical peripheral wall and rotatably mounted in said cabinet between said front panel and said bulkhead,

said drum having an open end confronting said bulkhead and a substantially closed end confronting said front panel,

seal means engaging said peripheral wall at the open end of said drum and said bulkhead to provide a seal therebetween,

second means in said closed end of said drum forming an access opening therein in general registry with the access opening in said front panel, and

journal means between said first and said second means to support the closed end of the drum for relative rotation with respect to said front panel.

4. In a clothes dryer:

a cabinet,

I a drum having a cylindrical peripheral wall and rotatably mounted in said cabinet to receive fabrics to be dried,

said drum having at least one open end,

at least one stationary bulkhead in said cabinet confronting the open end of said drum, and

seal means engaging the peripheral wall of said drum and the stationary bulkhead to provide a seal therebetween,

said stationary bulkhead having formed thereon an annularly shaped embossment substantially concentric with and within the radial confines of said cylindrical peripheral wall for deflecting clothes within said drum away from said seal means, i said seal means engaging said embossment.

5. The clothes dryer of claim 4 wherein said seal means is flexible and includes a deformable loop portion engaging said embossment at a first point and further includes an axially extending leg portion engaging said embossment at a second point.

6. The clothes dryer of claim 5 wherein said embossment includes an inclined portion overlying said deformable loop portion of said seal means.

7. In a clothes dryer:

a cabinet,

a drum having a cylindrical peripheral wall and housed in said cabinet,

said drum having at least one open end,

means in said cabinet for horizontally supporting said drum for rotation,

a stationary bulkhead in said cabinet extending substantially transversely to the axis of said drum,

said bulkhead confronting the open end of said drum and spaced proximately therefrom and having formed thereon an annularly shaped axially extending embossment, and

an annularly shaped seal member fastened to said peripheral wallat the open end thereof and situated radially outwardly of said embossment and in engagement therewith to provide a seal between said peripheral wall and said bulkhead,

saidembossment overlapping said seal member to deflect fabrics from said seal'member.

8. In a clothes dryer:

a cabinet,

a drum housed within said cabinet for receiving fabrics to be dried,

said drum having a horizontally extending cylindrical peripheral wall and having at least one open end,

a stationary bulkhead mounted in said cabinet and extending substantially transversely to the axis of said drum and confronting the peripheral wall of said drum at the open end thereof,

said bulkhead having formed thereon an annularly shaped axially extending embossment,

an annularly shaped seal member fastened to said peripheral wall at the open end thereof and situated radially outwardly of said embossment and in engagement therewith to provide a seal between said peripheral wall and said bulkhead,

said embossment overlapping said seal member to deflect fabrics from said seal member, means in said cabinet for rotating said drum, and an air translation system for circulating air through said drum to dry said fabrics comprising means forming a pair of openings in said bulkhead in open communication with the interior of said drum and constituting respectively an air inlet and an air outlet, and conduit means adjacent said bulkhead outside of said drum and connected to said last named means for conveying air to and from the interior of said drum. 9. The clothes dryer as defined in claim 8 in which at least one of said air openings formed in said bulkhead is eccentrically positioned in said bulkhead with respect to the axis of said drum.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS H 2,927,380 3/ 1960 Olthuis 34133 2,262,186 11/1941 Lindberg 34-433 2,486,058 10/1949 Patterson et al. 34-133 X 2,940,179 6/1960 Czech 34-133 X 3,180,037 4/ 196 5 Kenreich et al. 34-433 X FOREIGN PATENTS 720,654 12/1954 Great Britain.

FREDERICK L. MATTESON, 111., Primary Examiner.

H. B. RAMEY, Assistant Examiner. 

